Gods of Olympus: Work
by terratree21
Summary: What happens up on Mount. Olympus? Well, the gods have their jobs, for one. Except, these jobs aren't always so easy. Through the trials and tribulations of everyday life (for gods), they come closer as a family every day.
1. The Winter Solstice

The winter solstice was here yet again - another time for the twelve Olympians to argue and boast, while Hestia tended the fire. She was always there in case her peace-making skills were needed, which was often. The throne room was freshly cleaned for the occasion, white marble gleaming. The sun shone brightly down, and warmth filled the room despite the cold weather. Laughter and voices drifted in from outside.

"Air disasters are more spectacular!"

"No, sea disasters are better!"

Zeus and Poseidon were arguing about which domain was better, again. Hades sat nearby, not willing to get involved. Demeter glared at him from across the room. Athena, Ares, and Hephaestus were debating on battle strategies, the only ones doing something useful at the council. Artemis and Aphrodite glared at each other, no doubt fighting over relationships.

Surprisingly, Apollo and Hermes were bickering about something. Considered close friends by most of the council, this was unusual. Apollo looked a bit insulted, while Hermes just seemed downright furious.

"Mine takes half my day," Apollo said.

Hermes glared at Apollo. "Excuse me, but MY work takes a LOT longer than that!"

Apollo cleared his throat and recited, "My job is hardest. Apollo is right not you. His job is easier."

Hermes seemed to deflate. Now Apollo was arguing with his horrible haikus? "Last line was six syllables," he pointed out, "and you're still wrong."

"My job is hardest. Apollo is right not you. His job is easy!" Apollo redid his haiku, counting on his fingers the number of syllables. He beamed at Hermes, blinding him.

Hermes was not so amused. Had Apollo just called his job easy? Delivering mail for hundreds of gods and goddesses, not to mention demigods and nymphs? Going through pile after pile of junk mail, and keeping George and Martha under control? Hermes couldn't believe Apollo said his job was easy. The argument was starting to attract curious stares from some of the other Olympians, as it wasn't often that those two argued.

Hera stood up, her gaze raking across the squabbling gods and goddess. She frowned at seeing two of her husband's illegitimate children practically yelling in the throne room. She disliked most demigods due to one thing: most of the half-bloods were children of Zeus' illegitimate children. None of them should exist.

"Quiet down! What could you possibly be arguing about now?" Hera snapped. Nine heads turned to look at Hera, then Apollo and Hermes.

Hermes still looked like he wanted to throttle Apollo, his hand clenched tightly around his and Martha wisely kept quiet. Apollo stared obliviously at Hera, who was seething with impatience.

"Well? Aren't you going to say anything?" Hera practically hissed. She seemed to be in an extremely foul mood today. Apollo and Hermes kept quiet, but Dionysus looked up from his magazine.

"Oh, those two? Quarreling over whose job was harder. Acting as immature as those demigods at Camp Half-Blood," Dionysus muttered, "where I'm still stuck." Zeus glared at Dionysus from across the room, then glanced at Hera. Her gaze was still trained on Apollo and Hermes, her mouth set in a straight line.

"Apollo, Hermes, do you have anything to say?" Hera said, still standing. Apollo and Hermes didn't know what to say. What could calm down an angry Hera? They just sat there, soshe continued to stand.

"Do you have nothing to say? No apology? No explanation?" Hera ranted on and on and on. Poseidon made some popcorn appear. All of the gods and goddess were intently watching, wondering what was going on.

Hera spoke a bit quieter. "Since you two seem to have issues with your profession, maybe you need to understand each other a bit better." Hera zapped out the throne room, Zeus following a split second later, but not before giving Apollo and Hermes a stern stare. A short silence followed.

Quiet murmurs broke out among the rest of the council. What could Hera be planning? Were Apollo and Hermes angry with each other? Where did Zeus and Hera go? Has anyone seen my sock? Apollo and Hermes glanced at each other, overhearing many of the comments.

Dionysus looked up from his magazine again, which was probably a record for him. "Dear me, looks like I won't be the only one with a punishment. Maybe Zeus will take note of my good behavior and replace me with you two. Then you can deal with the little brats." He lifted his magazine up to read again.

"My kids are not brats," Apollo started, "I hope that-"

"That's okay, Apollo," Hermes cut off Apollo before he begin another haiku, "But just to be clear, my job is not easy." Apollo frowned at that.

"Hey, my job is the one that's harder!" Just as Apollo spoke, Hera and Zeus teleported back into the throne room. Hera sighed.

"Fighting again already, I see." She said. Zeus straightened his tie and looked at Apollo and Hermes.

"Hera and I have decided that your ... argument has shown after three thousand years, you still don't know anything about each other," Zeus paused to take a breath, "so for the next week, you shall have each others' job." He finished, and Hera smirked at the Apollo and Hermes.

Hermes and Apollo weren't sure if they had heard Zeus right. They were supposed to switch jobs? The rest of the council gaped at Zeus and Hera. The king and queen couldn't possibly mean that-they must have something else in mind.

Hermes protested. "But-"

"You will drive the sun, and Apollo will deliver the mail. Our punishment is final." Zeus finished, dismissing the council.

**First chapter of my first story! :D Should any other Olympians have to switch jobs?**


	2. Off to a Bad Start

After Zeus dismissed the council, most of the gods and goddess teleported, leaving in a bright flash of light. The silence lingered in the air. Apollo walked over to Hermes' throne, his footsteps echoing in the vast hall. The sun was going down, being driven by a different part of his essence. Hermes stood up, frowning. He had a very bad feeling about the week to come. He didn't think those fears weren't unfounded in the least.

Hermes sighed. "I suppose you'll need my caduceus. When-" Hermes' phone began to ring, and he pulled it out of his pocket. Two snakes were curled around it, yelling at Hermes.

_No! Don't give us to him!_ Martha hissed.

_He better have rats._ George said. Martha chased George around the caduceus.

_Rats aren't important now, dear!_ Martha chided.

Hermes didn't look enthusiastic about giving them to Apollo either. His item of power wasn't just an item. It had two of his dear friends on it. He turned towards Apollo, who looked a bit nervous.

"George and Martha eat rats. You better get some - you aren't letting my snakes starve." Hermes said. "Don't give George a rat every time he asks for one."

"Wait," Apollo interjected, "I have to get rats?" Hermes sighed again. This was going to be a long week at this rate. Apollo waited for Hermes to answer, fiddling with something in his hands. The sun was almost set in the distance, spilling orange and red rays across Olympus. Some rays hit parts of crystals in the windows, forming small rainbows on the ground.

Hermes replied. "Deliver the packages and mail. Feed George and Martha. Don't lose my caduceus. Clear?" He held it out to Apollo, who took the caduceus and put it in his pocket.

Apollo smiled and said, "Don't forget you have my job. Driving the sun, to be exact." He tossed the keys that had been in his hands to Hermes, who caught them. Hermes looked a bit surprised, as if the reality of the situation hadn't set in yet. George burped loudly, bringing him back to his senses. Apollo looked disgusted at what George has done in his pocket. His pants were going to smell like rats.

"You can drive the sun. It is very awesome. Do not scratch my car." Hermes didn't bother to correct him this time._ Just pretend he's not saying haikus, and you'll survive,_ He thought to himself. Who was he kidding. Hermes nodded, and Apollo zapped out. It was already dark outside. They would begin their new duties in the morning.

* * *

Apollo turned around to look at his clock. It was almost dawn, but he remembered that Hermes would be driving the sun, not him. He wasn't sure if Hermes was up for the task. The chariot could be very sensitive. Apollo reached into his pocket and took out the caduceus.

_Apollo, we need to start delivering the mail!_ Martha exclaimed. _We were supposed to start half an hour ago!_

She twisted around the caduceus, clearly agitated. Apollo frowned at this, checking his clock again.

"It's still really early, though," he said, "you sure?" Apollo knew Hermes had a lot of packages to deliver, but he didn't think that many. How much mail could one secret society of magical beings have to send? Apparently a lot.

_Yes, I'm sure! Right, dear?_ Martha said.

_Yup, we're behind. Got any rats?_ George said.

Martha chased him around the staff. Apollo remembered he still had to get rats for Martha and George. Where was he supposed to get those? He had a feeling they wouldn't like that nasty pet food mortals made that looked like little brown pellets. It didn't look appetizing to him; besides, Hermes had said to feed them rats.

"I actually don't have any rats yet." Apollo admitted. George gasped with horror, and Martha sighed. Now they were supposed to have started delivering forty minutes ago! They were going to have very angry customers at this rate. At least it wasn't permanent. Soon George and Martha would be working with Hermes again, just like the last five thousand years.

Apollo asked, "Where does Hermes get rats? In a sewer?" He grimaced at the though. Searching through a dark, damp sewer was the last thing the sun god wanted to do. Well, one of the last things. Apollo didn't really think that was were Hermes got his rats, anyways.

_He has a few traps._ Martha mentioned. _Hermes set up some in alleyways_.

Alleys were much better than sewers. Apollo decided that this wouldn't be so bad after all; he hoped that delivering the packages would be as easy as this.

_Great traps too! They catch rats really fast!_ George said.

Martha told Apollo where the traps were. Apollo shrank the caduceus back into a phone, and teleported away. There would have to be time for a quick snack before they started delivering packages and letters.

* * *

Hermes stood in front of Apollos' chariot. It was in the form of a car, a Maserati Spyder. It was oddly quiet not having George and Martha around. Usually they were talking to him, asking for rats, or bickering about something. Despite being stuck on the caduceus, they always had found something to talk about. There was a lot of gossip about Olympus.

He opened the car door with the keys Apollo had given him. Hermes slid into the drivers seat, and looked at the controls. It was just like his delivery van. Maybe driving the sun wouldn't be so hard. Except, his delivery van didn't fly, or light up the daytime.

Hermes started up the car, and put his foot on the gas pedal. The vehicle shot forward, going a lot faster than he thought it would. Hermes pulled up, and the sun shot into the sky, scattering a few birds.

He slowed down the car, trying not to rush the sunrise. How fast was he supposed to go? Darn it. He forgot to ask Apollo on how he was supposed to do his job. Hermes looked around the car, spotting a button that was labeled Iris messages. He pressed the button, and mist started to spray out of a nozzle above the button, creating several rainbows.

Hermes fished in his pocket for a drachma. Driving the car with one hand, he threw it into a rainbow and said, "Oh Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Show Phoebus Apollo, Hermes Express." The message wavered. Sorry, but our system is undergoing issues right now. Please try again later. The message spat the drachma back into Hermes' face. He cursed.

This wasn't good. He'd have to guess how high he was supposed to go, how fast to go -and where did Apollo land this thing? The next eleven hours and two minutes were going to be terrible.

Hermes continued to climb higher and higher, until he was almost in the clouds. He leveled the car, and looked down at the scenery. As he watched, he could see grass shriveling up and small fires forming in fields. Hermes yelped and brought the sun up just a bit higher. The fires went out quickly, and frost started to form on the ground. Even a little snow began to fall. He decided this was better, considering that it was less damaging and that it was late September.

Hermes kept driving along. At least he didn't have to worry about birds this far up. A few hours had passed since he had begun. He noticed something out of the corner of his eye. An Iris message was starting to form in the passenger seat. Maybe his message had gotten through! Hermes looked around for his drachma.

He looked back at the message, and was surprised to see the enraged face of Demeter.

"Hermes! What do you think you're doing! Freezing all of the crops, and reducing the amount of cereal we can have! Drive lower! And-" Hermes cut her off, wincing as he did so. No one wanted to be the target of Demeter's rants. They were hilarious to watch, though, considering Hades was usually the target of them.

"Sorry, sorry, I'm still figuring this out." Hermes said. This didn't calm Demeter down in the least.

"Well, figure it out faster! It's not winter yet!" She shrieked, glaring at him. Hermes realized why Demeter was so mad over what seemed like such a small thing. Persephone must have recently gone back to the underworld, making Demeter angry. Demeter opened her mouth again, clearly intending to rant some more.

Before she could, however, an arm reached out and pulled her away. Hestia's kind face replaced Demeter's mad one. Hermes nearly sighed with relief. He could always count on his aunt.

"I'll try to calm her down." said Hestia. Her face became more stern. "But, you need to try to do Apollo's job right. Gods aren't meant to switch jobs, but there is no changing my siblings minds." Hermes nodded.

"Apollo keeps instructions in his glove box. You'll have to wait until the day is over to read them, so just try your best for now." Hestia finished. The Iris message was starting to flicker. Their time was almost up. Hestia must have noticed too, and swiped her hand through the message. Now Hermes just had to figure out how to make through the rest of the day.

* * *

**This chapter should be a bit longer than last time! Next time: two more gods get to switch jobs. Any guesses as to who they are? Both of them have been mentioned in the story so far.**


	3. Cookies and Ketchup

The rat had ketchup on itself. Strangely enough, Martha seemed to like that while George was just disgusted.

When Apollo got to the alleyway, he noticed the traps were located behind McDonalds. Was that where the rats came from? He wouldn't eat there anytime soon, not that he normally did. Ambrosia was much better. Although, it was interesting to try the newest mortal foods.

Apollo walked up to one of the traps. They looked like simple mouse traps, but he could see they were made of celestial bronze, probably to keep them in good condition for longer. Apollo wondered what Hermes used before there were mouse traps. It seemed like only one trap had a rat.

The unfortunate rat was caught in the trap, crushed to death. Hermes had used cheese for bait. Apollo wasn't sure how effective that was; Athena had once given them a lecture on myths made up by mortals on everyday things. That had lasted for hours. The rat had blood - no, ketchup - on it's face. A packet of ketchup poked out its mouth, probably from McDonalds. Apollo guessed that the rat had tried to eat it, but failed. Fatally.

_Get the rat!_ George exclaimed.

_George!_ Martha said. _Remember your manners. We talked about this just a decade ago!_

_Please get the rat!_ George said.

He twisted around the caduceus, trying to reach out to get the rat. Being permanently stuck to it, he only succeeding in annoying Martha. Apollo bent down to get the rat, grimacing as he released it from the trap. Ketchup got on his fingers as he picked it up. He held up the caduceus to feed George and Martha.

"Okay, who wants a rat first?" Apollo said.

_We can split it in half._ Martha suggested. For her, that wasn't such a great idea.

Apollo stared at the rat. How was he supposed to split the rat? Across the middle or straight down? He thought that across the middle would be easier. Apollo then realized that he didn't have anything to cut it with. He set the rat onto the trap, changed the caduceus back into a phone, and walked into McDonalds.

He strode over to the condiments counter and picked up a plastic knife. This was going to be very messy. The person managing the front stared at him suspiciously. Apollo saw a few families looking at him funny as well, or more specifically, at his hands. He glanced at them, and saw he still had ketchup on them. He figured that was why.

Apollo swiftly walked back out, away from the prying eyes. He didn't need any more interruptions, already being behind.

A crate was resting against the outside wall of some apartment. Apollo brought the rat over to the crate and cut the it into portions. He didn't envy Hermes for having to do this every day, but Hermes probably caught more than one rat usually. He pulled the caduceus back out and gave George and Martha the rat pieces.

_Yum._ Martha said. _Did you put something on the rat?_

George evidently disagreed. He coughed and spluttered, spitting ketchup and rat everywhere. George kept up the dramatic act for at least a minute, making sure to spray Apollo. Apollo held the caduceus out away from him, trying to avoid George.

_Would you cut that out!_ Martha scolded.

_The rat tastes terrible._ George complained. _Ketchup is terrible. _

"Sorry," Apollo said, "That's all I have for now. Besides, why do you need to eat? You're immortal snakes." Martha hissed.

_Only because of the caduceus! We still get hungry, you know! Why do you need ambrosia? _Martha said.

"Okay, okay. Hermes uses his truck to deliver the mail, right?"

_Yup, he does._ George agreed. _In his garage._

Apollo wiped off his hands and flashed to Hermes' house in Olympus.

* * *

Dionysus took a sip of his diet coke. He was still stuck in this blasted camp. He could the clang of swords in the distance. Normal. He could hear music blaring from the Apollo cabin. Normal. He could hear the Katherine Gordon kid screaming at the Hermes twins. Normal. Even the smell of strawberries was normal year-round. What wasn't normal was the flash of light that appeared in front of him.

A figure began to form, eventually revealing a middle aged woman with glasses. She had warm brown eyes and long hair, and was carrying a very full-looking rainbow bag. Her gaze flitted around before finding Dionysus. She beamed at him and he scowled.

"Hello, Dionysus! I'm promoting my gluten-free, no-sugar-added, vitamin-enriched, soy-free, goat-milk-and-seaweed-based cupcake simulations!" Dionysus sighed. He had obviously heard this before.

"Iris, no one wants your ding-dongs." Iris huffed indignantly, pulling the bag back.

"They are not ding-dongs!" She shrieked.

"Whatever." Dionysus said, pulling a novel out that had a picture of a cup of wine on the front.

Chiron trotted out, and stopped short at the sight of the two gods. He took in the situation, then slowly began to back out of the room. However, his hoofs made loud clopping noises on the wooden floor. Iris whirled around towards the sound.

"Hello Chiron!" Iris exclaimed. Chiron's tail nervously swished back and forth. He kept inching his hoofs towards the door.

Iris continued. "Would you like a gluten-free, no-sugar-added," Dionysus sighed, and glared at Chiron, "vitamin-enriched, soy-free, goat-milk-and-seaweed-based cupcake simulation?"

Chiron managed to croak out, "What?" Iris rolled her eyes.

"My gluten-free-" Dionysus cut Iris off before she could continue.

"No one wants to hear it, Iris!" He rudely turned his back on her. Outside, an Apollo camper called for Chiron. Some camper had managed to stab his foot with his sword. Chiron quickly ran out of the room, grateful for the opportunity to escape.

Iris watched him go. "I'll have to get him later. He's missing out. Right?" She glowered at Dionysus, daring him to disagree. Which he did.

"He's not missing out. Those abominations are horrible." Dionysus said in a monotone.

Iris bristled. "Why, why you - why you old codger! I oughta cut off your messages!"

Dionysus didn't look like he liked that idea. Letters and Iris-messages were the only way for him to communicate outside of the camp, and to his wife. Losing his messages would just make his stay at Camp Half-Blood more "painful".

"You can't do that!" He whined. "I'll make sure your parties are never good!"

Iris laughed. "I don't throw parties! Buddhism and Taoism! Peace!" She smiled triumphantly.

"Stupid." Dionysus muttered, going back to his novel. Iris paused, and slowly shifted towards him.

"What. Did. You. Just. Say." Iris held some ding-dong fakes.

"Stupid." Dionysus said. A single ding-dong came whizzing through the air, and smacked Dionysus in the face. It came to rest on his overgrown nose. He sat there, trying to comprehend the melting snack on his face. A foul odor was now distinct in the room, emitting from the cookie.

His face began to turn a grape purple. A pinecone-tipped staff appeared in his hand. A thrysus.

Iris dug out several boxes of ding-dong fakes. She began to chuck them at him at a rapid rate. Dionysus swung his thrysus like a baseball player, deflecting some of them back at Iris. Most of the cookies were just smashed to pieces. Soon, pieces of chocolate and a suspicious green substance littered the floor. They were soon too engrossed in their fight to noticing the thunder rumbling overhead.

Lighting flashed in the room, further destroying the floor and giving way to two very, very angry faces. Zeus and Hera. Hera seemed rather smug.

"What is going on here!" Zeus boomed, eyes flashing. Hera cleared her throat. Dionysus and Iris jumped. Hera glanced at Zeus, then began to speak.

"It seems most our family has been ... squabbling lately," Hera said, with a peculiar expression on her face, "leading Zeus and I to think you need harsher punishment." Dionysus gulped at this. Was he going to have to stay at Camp a Half-Blood longer? He dearly hoped not.

As if reading his mind, Zeus disproved him. "You and Iris shall learn the same lesson Apollo and Hermes are. Starting tomorrow, the two of you are to switch jobs. No buts." Iris and Dionysus were too stunned to argue.

Zeus and Hera disappeared in another flash of dramatic lightning, back to Olympus. Iris disappeared also, probably back to ROFL before she had to leave it for a week. Fleecy would not be happy. Her poor shop. Dionysus teleported off to some other location in the camp. He never wished more than now that he could have his wine. On the bright side, he would get to leave the camp.

* * *

Chiron walked back into the living room where he thought Dionysus was. He halted. Ding-dongs were plastered everywhere, smeared on furniture, paintings, the walls, and the floor. Scorch marks further marred the floor. Stolls. They were going to be on dish duty for a long time. Chiron went to get a few campers to clean up the mess.

* * *

**Sorry this chapter was a bit later than the others! Hope you enjoyed it, though. Whose POV's should I include next?**


	4. Accidents Happen

There were no good radio stations in the car. Hermes couldn't believe how awful the music and talk shows were. And Apollo was the god of music. All of the songs he found made his head hurt, and why would a mortal want to make a talk show that revolved around haikus?

At least he found an ideal altitude for the sun, which was the key (he hoped) to doing this job right. Fewer towns were getting frosted or burnt when Hermes flew over them, and Demeter hadn't come back to rant yet. Still, the car was starting to make strange noises, and the controls were very touchy. Nothing like his delivery van, which never left the ground and was very bulky.

Hermes wished once more that George and Martha, his long-time friends, were with him. George could seem immature at times, and Martha very motherly, but they were older than him and very good friends to have. He hated being bored, and couldn't do much in the Maserati. Leaving the wheel would be a bad idea. He almost wished Demeter would come back to rant. Almost.

He checked the digital clock in the car, which said it was about five in the afternoon.

Hermes was almost finished. Today was the day after the shortest day in the year, so he would get to do the sunset earlier than most days. It would have been a lot worse had it been summer. Hermes shuddered at the thought.

Apollo wouldn't be doing so well, though. There was only a few days before Christmas, and even though the holiday had nothing to do with the gods some of the immortals liked to join in the festivities. For example, the Maenads. Hermes remembered watching that incident from Olympus. Dionysus didn't appreciate the holiday much because of them, but the Maenads evidently did.

A timer suddenly beeped in the car. Hermes realized it was time for the sunset. He started bringing the car down gradually, but none of the landscape down below got torched. He guessed it was because the sun's power went away as the day ended, but gradually, so the sunset was born. Similar to dawn.

As the car went lower and lower, till it was just a few hundred feet off the ground, Hermes still had nowhere to land. He couldn't see a clearing anywhere. Apollo would kill him if he landed his car in a pond, if the nymphs didn't. Hermes saw a small parking lot next to what looked like a bunch of trails that went into a forest. He veered the car towards it.

Hermes slowed the car down, and glided onto the pavement. The sun shot across the lot, and slowed down rapidly, until it was just a few feet from the opposite edge. He took a deep breath. The car was still in one piece.

A strong smell of burning instantly made him alert. He twisted around in the car seat, and his heart sank as he observed the scene behind him.

Tire marks stretched over the pavement he had landed on. Small fires had managed to start on the edges of the lot, and several broken branches were on the ground, probably clipped from the trees as he drove down. Hermes really didn't want to check the state of the tires, or the car itself.

He slowly opened the car door and stepped out. He turned around, and his suspicions were confirmed.

The two tires on his side were torn to shreds from the rough landing. Chunks of rubber were still melting off and dripping into the concrete. The rims were scratched up, and the words on the tires were illegible. Apollo's car would need new tires, which probably had to specially made, with the vehicle being the sun. Hermes guessed Hephaestus would have to make them.

Hermes walked over to the passenger side. The tires were just as bad, meaning he would need a full set of new tires. He opened the passenger door and looked in the glove compartment. A few papers and envelopes were inside. He took out the envelope that very clearly had **Instructions** scrawled on it.

The seal was already broken, so he just pulled out the single paper that was inside. Hermes unfolded it and stared at it in disbelief. There were three simple instructions:

_1. Put the keys in._

_2. Turn the keys away from you. _

_3. Drive_

He wasn't quite sure if this was a joke or not. Hermes supposed Apollo never really thought anyone else would ever be driving the sun; Athena or someone else must have forced him to do this, and never checked. He would have to find Apollo, who could be anywhere with the deliveries he was hopefully making.

* * *

Apollo had no idea where to start. Rows and rows of packages lined the walls of the Hermes Express delivery van, fortunately in alphabetical order. Unfortunately, there were a lot of them, and Apollo didn't know where to start.

A bit of red liquid by his feet answered his question. Martha could help him, even though George was still spitting out ketchup. They were now over an hour behind, and some gods and goddesses would start to wonder where their packages were. Apollo went and got in the driver's seat.

"Martha, where do we go first?" Apollo asked, fiddling with the keys. The old van needed a tune-up.

_The packages in Olympus first._ She hissed._ That's a good route to start with, right dear?_

_And the hundreds of locations around the country._ George said.

_George!_ Martha replied, annoyed._ Don't freak Apollo out! _

Apollo got the car started and started to drive to the Empire State Building, sick of hearing George and Martha quarreling. He didn't see how Hermes managed to put up with their arguments all of the time. The car sped faster and faster, and Apollo got to the building in minutes. He didn't get how Hermes found this job hard.

Apollo stared up to Olympus. How was he supposed to get the packages for tens of gods and goddesses up there? Martha and George were too busy to notice his predicament. He went to the back of the van and started stacking packages. George glanced over and saw what Apollo was doing.

_No, get his mailbag!_ George said, twisting his tail to point.

Apollo followed his tail and saw a tan bag hanging on a hook. Oh. He snatched it off the hook. It was surprisingly light, but appeared to be quite sturdy and durable. Apollo peeked inside. However, the bag was empty.

_Put the mail inside it._ Martha said._ You'll be able to carry much more. It expands._

Martha was right. As soon as Apollo began to pile packages and letters and even a crate inside, all of the stuff wasn't was in view, and didn't seem to be present. He assumed the bag was magic. Otherwise, Hermes would constantly be breaking his back hauling it around.

Once Apollo finished stuffing the mailbag full, he grabbed the caduceus and headed up to Olympus. He hummed to the elevator music on the way up. Why was everyone always complaining about his song choices?

He jogged towards the side of Olympus farthest from the elevator, which was where Zeus and Hera's temples were located. The minor gods were closest to the entrance, with the Olympian council in-between. Apollo could work his way back and save some time, as he was running behind.

He strode up to Zeus' mailbox and inserted tens of letters: bills, junk mail, requests, and a few weather magazines. Apollo could see Zeus inside going through paperwork. Ugh. Being the ruler of Olympus had its perks; paperwork wasn't one of them. Even delivering the mail was better than that. He needed to check up on Hermes too, and his car. If Hermes scratched it ...

* * *

ROFL was busier than Dionysus expected. He couldn't believe so many gods and goddess actually came here, and how many monsters tried to rob the place. Sadly for them, all of the snacks were organic, even the drinks. Dionysus had gotten one to sip from, and his first taste was not pleasant. He couldn't believe how many rainbows there were either.

Sure, Iris was the rainbow goddess, but when the whole shop was completely covered in multicolored light, it made his eyes hurt. All of the windows had crystals in them. Fleecy wouldn't let him pull down the blinds.

_It shoos away the business._ She claimed. _Open windows mean an open business. Happier shop. Happier customers._

Fleecy had rambled on and on about the importance of open windows for ages. Only when several customers appeared had she stopped.

Dionysus fiddled with a funny metal object on the counter. Despite all of the people that came here, there were still hours when there was nothing to do. He inferred that Fleecy was actually doing most of the work, but this was worse than that dreadful camp. Granted, his sons were there, but they were often off doing activities. Dionysus didn't do much there, but at least he had a comfy room. Iris had a small three-by-three room with a mat on the floor. Something about yoga and proper breathing.

A ring at the door startled him. A small cyclops, about ten feet tall, started swiping snacks. Dionysus sighed. Fleecy wasn't around, so he'd have to go and blast the thing. He left the object and counter, and walked up to the cyclops. He quickly encased it in vines, and when they fell to the ground, all that was left was a gold dust and various foods.

An acrid scent reached Dionysus. He turned around and saw a small fire where he left the metal thing. It must have been a lighter. Whoops. Well, he better put it out. Dionysus brought a bottle of water to his hand and prepared to extinguish it. Before he could, a display of wreaths nearby, styled after Demeter's hairdo, caught fire. The display was wrapped all the way around the shop, and quickly went up in flames. The fire continued to spread from the wreaths to statues, stacked cardboard boxes, and the snacks. Fleecy came back in and stared in horror.

"What did you DO!" She screamed. "Iris is going to fire me! All her goods! Her papers!"

The walls began to smoke, and lighting began to crackle around her.

* * *

**Oh no! A cliffhanger! So, should Zeus and Hera get a POV? Thanks for reading! :)**


	5. Issues Arise

Fleecy's miniature storm grew with the fire. Clouds were made of water, so she kept throwing them onto the fire, smothering it and extinguishing it at the same time. A dark gray smoke curled up from wherever she hit. Many of the products were intact, and Dionysus wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. At least Iris wouldn't be too bad. Although, it seemed Fleecy was the biggest of the worries.

She still seemed furious, smacking clouds with much more force than necessary and breaking more products than she saved. Fleecy still had lightning crackling around her, giving off a dim light to see by. The fire hadn't exactly helped the electrical systems, plunging the far side of the shop into shadow. Statues cast creepy figures on the floor, giving the the illusion that many people were watching them.

Dionysus was sure that Zeus was, and not too pleased. Or Hera. She was always meddling in other god's business. Thunder crackled. Dionysus flinched, thinking it was Zeus. Then he realized it was just Fleecy.

In an instant, Fleecy stopped, plunging the shop into a sudden, eerie silence. She walked into an office in the back and quietly shut the door. Dionysus could hear a phone faintly ringing through the Eco-friendly wood. Whether it was Fleecy calling or receiving a call was uncertain.

He glanced at the mess. Ugh. Dionysus snapped his fingers and organized the some of it. The products that were still in one piece could be put back in order, but he was going to have to order or remake the damaged ones. Dionysus was too focused on cleaning up the mess to notice a shadowy figure outside.

* * *

The figure raised a hand and fog drifted under ROFL. The shop had strong defenses for a goddess who believed in peace. With a flick of the hand upwards, ROFL detached from the ground and slowly hovered a few feet up. The beings inside would be unaware of what was happening.

ROFL did move around a lot under the command of Iris, but most likely not to the place it was about to go.

Inside, the figure could see two silhouettes running around in a mad panic, trying to fix stuff from the fire. _They should be glad I kept the shop level._ The figure thought. _I could have done much worse, easily. Now, where to take them ..._ The figure smiled. She knew exactly where.

* * *

The growling was doing nothing to help his nerves. It was bad enough that Hermes couldn't go anywhere in this wrecked heap of - whatever that car was made of.

It had long since grown dark outside, and the sun needed to be ready by dawn. Frankly, Hermes didn't know what Zeus was thinking. They had their own jobs for a reason. The car was the proof.

He stared into the woods, trying to decipher any shapes in the darkness. Hermes could pretty much take any monsters with his caduceus - oh, wait. He didn't have his caduceus. Never mind.

Hermes made a sword appear. He wasn't completely powerless without the caduceus, although he appreciated having two snakes to fight with. Despite their petty arguments (which, really, reminded Hermes of the god's arguments), George and Martha helped him look out for danger and gave some useful ideas.

He spotted a patch of reddish fur in some bushes. A few yards away, a slender appendage was half hidden under some leaves. A manticore. Not the worst monster to face, but not the easiest. Hermes supposed the monster just happened to be around and taken note of him. Was this how demigods felt every day?

The manticore sprung from the forest, racing towards Hermes. He raised his sword, ready to slice. The monster jumped over his head and passed him by.

Hermes spun around, confused. Was there a demigod in the area? The manticore was slowing down, though. He watched as it skidded to a halt next to Apollo's car. The manticore began to swat at it curiously.

"Hey! Quit that!" Hermes ran towards the manticore. "It's bad enough already!"

Ignoring him, the manticore grabbed the car with its long tail and began to drag it away. Hermes jumped onto its back to keep up with it. He shut his eyes for a second to focus on keeping his balance.

When he opened them again, he could tell he was in a new area. There was a rocky outcrop right in front of him and a deciduous forest was behind him, instead of the scraggly pine trees found in western America. However, he could smell salt from an ocean. Hermes guessed this was somewhere on the East Coast.

The manticore ran to the edge of the outcrop, and skidded to a halt. Hermes saw a lake below them, with a narrow, but tall, strip of land separating it from the ocean. The lake looked quite deep. He jumped down from his perch. He heard the monster growl, and dropped the car into the lake. The manticore spun around and ran out of sight.

No! Hermes thought. Apollo was going to kill him. What was wrong with that manticore? They were usually very intelligent monsters, but that made no sense at all. He could see the silhouette of the car sinking down.

Hermes considered diving into the lake to retrieve Apollo's car. It wouldn't be too difficult to drag the car out. Being a god had its perks. But it was likely there would be something less than friendly at the bottom. Hermes decided to maneuver down the cliffside, and scout out the area first.

* * *

Dionysus didn't know why Iris would decide to do the old-fashioned pyramid of cans. It was actually a bad method to fit many products in a single space, and was hard to do. He had just finished putting the final can on top when a small tremor shook the floor and the entire structure collapsed.

Dionysus cursed. This had better not be some god or goddess making his misfortune worse. He had spent a good fifteen minutes creating that! Sure, he was immortal, but that didn't mean he liked to waste time! Pinochle and diet coke was a much better use of it. And Pac-Man.

He was reaching for a can when he heard Fleecy shriek. She had come out of the office and was staring in what seemed to be horror at the outside. Either that or she was doing a pretty good impression of Edward Munch's "The Scream".

Glancing up, he sighed and turned towards the front doors. What he wasn't expecting was a few fish to swim by. Or see seaweed waving in the windows. Even the dark, murky water surprised him. There was only one "logical" explanation for that. The shop was underwater.

Fleecy brought her hands down into fists.

"What did you do!" She shouted. "This is not a customer-friendly area! Where are we? Iris is-" Dionysus cleared his throat loudly and rudely.

"Well, I didn't take us here. I could hardly care less about what place has better business. Though I would like to know why we're underwater. Not exactly where I'd like to be." Fleecy crossed her arms.

"Someone took us here. It wasn't me, and it wasn't Iris."

"And your point is?" Dionysus replied.

"Move us back to where ROFL was before! I'm a cloud nymph! I hate underwater, most customers do, just get us back!" Fleecy yelled.

* * *

Chiron sat with Iris in the freshly cleaned sitting area. One of the Aphrodite campers had gotten a Febreze to try and cover up the smell of seaweed. Ironically, Iris seemed more bothered by the odor eliminator. She kept wrinkling her nose and even sniffed a few times. Overdramatic.

Chiron cleared his throat, and began. "So, as you know, you will be taking over Dionysus' duties for the week. You really don't have to do much, other than introduce new campers and small jobs."

"Nonsense!" Iris exclaimed. "There is so much to do here! For one, it's much too drab here. Your menu could use some tweaking, too. And I have some excellent ideas for some mediation classes! Campers need to learn about chi." Chiron's hoof tapped anxiously.

"Those are all very ... Beneficial changes, but they need the approval of the cabin's councilors." Chiron said, hoping this might deter Iris.

She frowned, but almost instantly brightened up again.

"Lets call a meeting right now!" Iris said, not caring what time it was. "I'm bet the campers will agree! First, we'll repaint this house!"

"Err ... Will the building be painted many different colors?" Chiron asked nervously. He was praying that, for a change, Iris would lean away from the "rainbow option." She had become quite infamous for doing so, but in the past she had preferred certain colors. And all of their different shades.

"Um, I don't know yet," Iris mused, "but the house is a perfect canvas! All white and blank. Even the roof is just a solid black." She stared up at the ceiling, as if she could see through to the roof. Chiron wondered if he should leave after a few minutes of silence. Then Iris sprang to her feet.

"I got it! We'll paint pictures all over the house! Each cabin can have one section to paint, I will do one section, and so can you! I'll grab the paint!" Iris spun around, preparing to shoot off towards the arts and crafts cabin.

"Wait!" Chiron protested. "We still have to hold the council!" Iris huffed.

"Okay, but quickly so the painting can start!

* * *

**Well, there is no excuse for late this chapter is, but I do hope you liked it! Updates will likely not be at the same time, but I won't abandon this story! Ideas for which gods could switch jobs in a few chapters are welcome!**


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